What are the stages involved in writing a book? Where do editing, proofreading and beta reading fit in?

Authors often get confused about the different stages and people involved in getting a book published. It’s not as simple as “Write a book – get it published!” but nor should it be so complicated that only the professionals understand it.

I work with a lot of people who are indie-publishing or self-publishing their book, however these stages will be roughly the same whether you’re publishing in the traditional route with a publisher, or going it alone. When the publisher gets involved can also vary.

What are the processes my book needs to go through?

Here are the basic stages for your book.

1. Plan
2. First draft
3. Second draft
4. Beta readers
5. Third draft
6. Edit (usually in Word)
7. Fourth draft and preparation for publishing (layout artist, cover art, blurb)
8. Proofread (usually in PDF or another file format from which the book will actually be produced)
9. Publish

Note: You might have a substantive edit before or just after the beta readers; if you have one after that stage, it’s an idea to add another beta read in afterwards, which would give you this:

1. Plan
2. First draft
3. Second draft
4. Beta readers
5. Third draft
6. Substantive edit (usually in Word)
7. Fourth draft
8. More beta readers or the same ones again
9. Fifth draft
10. Edit (usually in Word)
11. Sixth draft and preparation for publishing (layout artist, cover art, blurb)
12. Proofread (usually in PDF or another file format from which the book will actually be produced)
13. Publish

One last point: it’s better to have your edit and proofread done by different people: just as it’s hard to edit your own work, it’s hard not to miss things if you’re proofreading something you edited. See the link below for how to handle the style sheet you will need.